I'm not certain about how much they address the use of recycled
products, but they do research on sustainable designs, most notably in
buildings, "hypercars" and energy. The institute itself,
running on geothermal power, sells their surplus energy back to the
grid.

I have a friend in
Israel who has asked me to send him information on sustainable design -
he designs furniture, household items, and works with a wide range of
materials - glass, metal etc. Because there's almost no
large-scale recycling in Israel, he's looking at how other countries,
private companies etc. have used recycled materials to make new
things. He's interested in creating motivation and incentive for
people to recycle - for example, if he can say - this chair was made from
500 cans (or other recycled material). Does anyone know of any
innovative work that links modern design with environmental
concerns?

It takes less than 1 minute a day to click on
www.therainforestsite.com
to help save rainforests - it's free and has raised enough sponsorship
money to purchase (and preserve) about 5000 acres since the site
opened in May 2000!